This invention relates to a ski pole, with clamp, which allows for infinite adjustment of the length of the ski pole.
A number of adjustable length ski poles are being proposed, the purpose of such ski poles being to accommodate skiers of different height and for skiing under variable conditions, with a single set of ski poles. One proposal involves the use of two tubular half sections of a ski pole, fitted together telescopically, and employing a detent button disposed on one of the sections and a series of holes spaced longitudinally apart on the other section, into which the detent button fits to fix the pole at different lengths. The problem with this proposal is that the assembled ski pole tends to rattle even though the pole is made with fairly tight tolerances. Also, only discreet lengths are possible with such a pole since the different pole lengths are determined by the location and spacing of the holes into which the detent button fits. Finally, such a pole typically allows the entry of snow and/or water into the holes and detent mechanism, resulting in the pole being "frozen" into the length at which it is originally set when skiing is begun.
Another proposal for an adjustable length ski pole again involves the use of two telescoping halves, with the interior or inside half pole including a plug which expands a cone, when the half poles are twisted relative to one another, so that the cone contacts the walls of the exterior or outside half pole to prevent the two half poles from sliding relative to one another, i.e., to fix the length of the pole. Although this pole design does allow for an infinite number of lengths to be selected, the holding mechanism typically does not hold the pole securely at the selected length because of different coefficients of thermal expansion of the materials used, difficulty in obtaining tight tolerances for the assembled parts, etc. Also, because it is necessary to tightly twist one half pole relative to the other half pole to secure a pole length and to untwist the one half pole in order to loosen and change the length, if the weather becomes cold, it can be difficult to grasp the pole halves in order to either untwist them or twist and tighten them, especially since most poles are made of aluminum which can be slippery.